Friday, May 9, 2008

It's Time

I began thinking about hosting a blog about a year ago, and back in January I took the first big step by starting an internal blog for employees of the Padres. The idea all along was to someday create an external blog to engage in a direct dialogue with our fans. Well, given the events of the past few weeks, that "someday" is now.

There are already some thoughtful and intelligent conversations taking place at other sites, like http://www.ducksnorts.com/, http://www.gaslampball.com/, and of course, http://www.padres.com/ (in addition to many others). Nevertheless, hopefully you'll find it useful to have some unfiltered access to our internal conversations and feelings. We'll have to figure out the rules as we go since I won't be able to share everything, but I think it's important to open this avenue right now.

So, I'm here, and I'd like to be a part of the conversation. I'll do my best to reply to comments/questions, though I can't promise punctual responses or regular posts. After all, just like everyone else out there, I already have a job. :-)

Hit me with whatever you have and let's get out of this slump together.

I get this question a lot. In short, I do a little bit of everything. I help out wherever I'm needed whether it be when KT wants input on a Major League move or when Grady and Chief Gayton want another opinion on an amateur player. I guess I'm the front office rover.

Over the past decade there has been a signficant shift to 12 man pitching staffs across the game, and that is now the default roster composition. In our particular case, we play so many close games (as well as extra inning games) and our starters aren't complete game types, so that extra pitcher plays a valuable role. Sometimes it also comes down to whether or not you have roster flexibility with certain players - whether or not they have minor league options remaining.

I am going to leave questions concerning the current disaster to others, there will be plenty.

Since moving to Petco the Padres have had dramatic home / away hitting splits, with the non hitting version of the Padres playing in front of the hometown fans. Is there any concern that the oppressive nature of Petco leads to negative fan perception, and will eventually lead to apathy?

Paul, the draft is less than a month away. There's been a lot of talk about how the Padres need better athletes. Will there be any additional effort to go after those types of players this year? I know the first round has a lot of slugging first basemen types, will the Padres shy away from those guys early on or is it more about best player available?

Hey Paul, glad to see a blog from someone in your position. How large of a factor is Petco Park in day-to-day baseball decisions? It's well-known around the league for being a pitcher's park which is an advantage for the rotation, but not so much with the lineup. I know the Yankees tend to have a lineup of lefty's because of their park, just wondering what people in the organization do to try and maximize the benefits of the home field.

Paul,Obviously when making personnel decisions one has to take into account your home ballpark. When it comes to sabermetrics, there are ways to figure out which players should succeed both offensively and defensively at Petco -- in theory. But there seems to be a mental block that overwhelms some players when they step into this park. My question is, how does one go about scouting or recruiting players via free agency who are mentally tough (or naive) enough to not let this effect their play?

First let me just say that it's quite cool you're doing this for the fans.

Secondly, I'm curious about your thoughts when it comes to breaking in young pitchers in middle-long relief vs. the rotation. Obviously when you're dealing with a Dwight Gooden or Francisco Liriano the best bang for your buck is to get them out there as soon as possible, but what about the guys who project as #3-5 starters? To me it seems like the natural way to get guys used to the jump in some low leverage innings- to learn to trust their stuff if you will. Do the numbers back this up in your opinion?

I know you probably want to keep it mostly a secret, but how has the "Moneyball" philosophy changed since the book?

Also, does team chemistry or "excitement" factor into the equation? There's a lot to be said for making the players pay attention or care. The Cardinals teams from several years ago were very talented but always seemed bored and/or detached. What eventually got them their championship was an injection of young, exciting players (most notably Molina and Wainwright).

There are certain players that get their teammates excited and therefore more involved in the game (usually ones with a lot of power or speed), and the Padres seem to be lacking in these players (with the exception of Peavy).

Paul-Regarding the draft. We have heard both you and Grady discuss this on XX. For this draft will the emphasis be more on position players than arms? It seems that is more the need this year. There have been problems in the past with drafting away from Boras clients. Will that continue?

It would seem to me that the most important position defensivly for our team is CF. I know when roberts went down a couple years ago, it was enough of an issue that KT stepped up and brought in Gold glove winner Cameron.

So...moving forward. What is the strategy for the position? Do we have anyone in the minors that grades highly? Free Agency? Or is it something that we would be looking forward to the trade dead line for, assuming things dont change and we are moving some of our guys in with expiring contracts that still have trade value?

I think more fans would be very happy with someone that can patrol the outfield, leadoff with an .350 OBP and RUN RUN RUN! Let's stir it up on the base pads!!

Welcome, Paul. As a Mariners fan I see many similarities with the Padres in terms of both teams' struggles this year--good pitching, poor offense, poor bench depth, and an unforgiving ballpark.

Anyway, looking forward to your future posts. I hope that soon other teams will embrace this new form of communication and connect with the fanbase better; it is a fantastic idea and hopefully it will catch on.

Welcome to the blogosphere. Nice to see someone taking the leap. Between you and Keith Law, it seems as though baseball fans are now going to be privy to much more "inside" information from the executive suite than ever before. How do you see metrics like BABIP being used by teams going forward? Is this one way of identifying unlucky/undervalued players, or do "better" players acheive higher BABIP's because they hit the ball harder?

I'm excited for this inside look into the Padres front office. It's ironic that you started this on Friday, which happened to be the first day I have seen you in person (as you headed to lunch with KT and the gang).

I have been a Padres fan for 25 years, started as Brooklyn Dodgers fan in 1952. I realize that there will be down years and I like the front office set up and the philosophy you all have. Get on base, throw strikes!

However, and I suspect that the front office has a big say here, your TV team of Matt and Mark are terrible. When they do not work together, they are okay. Mark Grant and Tony Gwynn are a solid combination. I look forward to Matt going off to the Olympics.

The Alderson crew is literate, highly educated. How can you stand these guys who struggle with the language, think they are funny but they are not, and Matt does not know the game or even if the game is being played in the daytime or at night?

I can live with what is going on on the field. Hey, its baseball and my Padres. Life for me always begins on opening day. But the TV guys are third rate, actually insulting to those of us with knowledge of the game and the English language.

Thanks for posting my rant. Good luck with the blog. I am with you, Paul, and appreciate what someone characterized as transparency.

Why haven't the Padres built more around speed and contact - assets that wouldn't be hurt by having to play at Petco? Guys like Jeff Keppinger, Mark Loretta, Luis Castillo and Ichiro Suzuki are types that would seem to fit well at Petco. Looking at the stats, the Padres were last in the league in SB last year and 13th so far this year.

I have to say, this is a terrible, terrible idea. Ah, hell, not really. I was just trying to think of something to say that wouldn't be the same as everyone else.

I think you're in for an interesting time figuring out the rules for this thing, but I'm sure it's going to be a very successful and interesting venture for you and the Padres. I just hope it doesn't distract you from figuring out how to send Brian Giles to Cleveland.

Have the Padres considered that the 12 man pitching staff / close game situation may be a self-fulfilling prophecy? It may be only anecdotal evidence, but it seems that we've lacked effective bench weapons the last few years, which helps keep games close. Because we've lacked bench players who can win a game with one swing, or who have speed in their toolbag, a game goes extras and this "proves" that the Padres need all those relievers.

Besides, what good does the 12 man staff do if the manager isn't going to go to a fresh arm at high-leverage points in the game? We carried 12 last year and for long stretches it wouldn't have mattered if Cameron and Hampson were locked in a closet somewhere.